Planet Terror [2007]

When I first saw this movie back in 2008, it really blew me away. At that time, I had no idea that this is a double feature (the second movie is Death Proof) or that this has something to do with grindhouse. I was too into zombie movies, riding that big wave that hit us in the beginning of this century. Oddly enough, director Robert Rodriguez, predicted this big zombie wave and was eager to shoot a fun zombie movie immediately after his big hit Faculty. He went on to work on other projects and the wave happened without him. The idea was rehashed when he was approached by Tarantino and the rest is history. While his Death Proof was more of a classical grindhouse flick, Rodriquez’s Planet Terror focuses on the Zombie craze of the eighties. This fast paced splatter extravaganza is a sight for sore eyes.

Under the cover of dark, a shady deal is happening in one army base located in Texas. Evil engeneer Abby is trying to sell large quantities of DC2, a lethal bioweapon, but as soon as the other party finds out that he’s hiding more of the DC2, everything goes to hell. Bioweapon turns ordinary people into flesh eating zombies and soon the town hospital will be overrun with cases of infection…

Colorful characters with fully developed side-stories and narrative made this movie. Add to this a strong cast, comprising of experienced actors and people who are not actors but had something in them, and what you got is an extremely fun ride. And after it’s over you will want more, much more. So, lets get that out the way: after you checked out these two movies, it’s time to check out the rest of the new grindhouse wave: Machete, Hobo with a Shotgun, Drive Angry, Feast Trilogy, Slither, Pirahna 3D… I know that the list is a bit jumbled, but there are so many subgenres and categories here, that it’s best you find out for yourself what are those movies based on a couple suggestions. Anywhoo, I’m not nearly done praising this movie and everything surrounding it. Can you guess the budget? It was fucking one hundred million dollars! Holy shit! And you know they only got that kind of cash because the studios trusted both Rodriguez and Tarantino to make a highly commercial movie. From Dusk Till Dawn was the first time Rodriguez tried this approach and as we all know, it was a huge success. Special effects were non-intrusive and reminiscent of the eighties role-models. Not to mention, fucking awesome! With puss, blood and all the other fluids you can think of squirting all over the screen. The story, although it seems relatively straightforward, is much more complex than it seems. Small town madness with everybody stretched to their limits without any sort of mass epidemic present was abruptly cured with the imminent threat of zombies practically liberating the characters from their cruel fate…